Preview: Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Schulhoff, Hartmann & Brahms

Czech composer and pianist Erwin Schulhoff was one of the brightest stars on the European music front, realizing the possibilities of combining American jazz and the European classical music tradition before the Nazi regime branded him “degenerate” for doing so and stopped him from being performed publicly before ultimately perishing at the Wülzburg concentration camp. Schulhoff ’s “Jazz Suite” for Chamber Music is the opening work on James Conlon’s “Breaking the Silence” series, a program that also includes violinist Miriam Fried performing Hartmann’s “Concerto Funèbre” and pianist Peter Serkin performing the Brahms Second Piano Concerto. A free preview performance by students of Ravinia’s Steans Institute takes place at 5:45pm in Bennett-Gordon Hall. (Dennis Polkow)